Session Magazine - Issue 72

Issue 72

June | July 2016

ETHAN CAIRNS Feeble grind for the young guns. This little homie is on a tear of late. The roll up and landing for this rail in the Cape Town suburbs is rougher than you expect. That’s no problem for the new breed like Ethan though. Photo - Grant Mclachlan

Contents issue 72

08 Redial 12 Ethiopia 22

Suhail Kader

30

20SK8 GGs

42

Joubert van staden

54 Element Make it Count 56

Indigo Pool gala

58 closet envy 62 I AM Bradley Vrey

front Cover Dallas Oberholzer claims a precarious backside disaster in the massive old swimming pool at Cape Town High School. He and Brett Shaw are doing it for the older generation, spending hours cleaning out pools and shredding them harder than anybody. Cheers to 15 years of Indigo! Photo - Sam Clark

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“Skateboarding has an insatiable thirst for new energy and new blood!� sessionmag.co.za | 3

LUCAS PUIG - FAKIE INWARD HEELFLIP Photography: Sem Rubio © 2016 adidas AG. adidas, the trefoil logo and the 3-Stripes mark are registered trademarks of the adidas Group.

Redial

the FountaIn oF youth Because we don’t know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.

Paul Bowles - The Sheltering Sky (1949)

“We just want to skate” - a local skateboarder in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia floats a boneless off of a drop at Addis’ local meet-up skate spot. Shot by Albert Retief during his amazing year-long journey from Japan to Cape Town, which he made using public transport.

EDITOR

PHOTOGRAPHERS 72

PHYSICAL ADDRESS:

Luke Jackson

Session Magazine, 2nd Floor, Earlgo Building, cnr. Kloof & Park Rd, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001.

info@sessionmag.co.za

Sam Clark, Jansen van Staden, Andre Visser, Grant Mclachlan, Jonathan Pinkhard, Mike Chinner, Albert Retief, Daniel Theron, Eddie Galassi, Mike Sparrow, Martin Kotze, Jonathan Kyriakou

PHOTO EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS 72

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Ethiopia DIY in Addis Ababa Interview: Luke Jackson Photos: Mike Chinner

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Skateboarding is really growing in Africa, we hear about a new group of guys in some random country just about every week.

There are also a growing number of trips to various cities around the continent, just to see what might possibly exist. A skateboarding trip to Ethiopia seems about as random as you can get, but that’s exactly where Kimberley local Mike Chinner and Bloem local Stuart Walker recently ventured. They spent a few weeks living alongside a global crew who dedicated their own time and money to help build a DIY concrete park in the capital, Addis Ababa. Mike came back with a bunch of photos and few stories, so we sat down with him to find out more.

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Irie axel stall at the Megabi mini ramp, located in one of Addis’ poorer areas

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Tell us how you ended up in Addis Ababa, who spearheaded this whole endeavor?

Well initially Stuart Walker hit me up asking to donate to the Indigogo campaign that ‘Make Life Skate Life’ set up to fund the skatepark. Stu said he was keen to go and help with the build. I thought it sounded like an amazing opportunity to also get involved with the build and document an event/trip that was sure to be epic, so I decided to join him.

What is the flight time from SA and was it super expensive to get there?

The flight is about 5 hours long. It was about $500 for a round trip.

It’s pretty reasonable given the distance.

Tell us about some of the people in the huge international crew of volunteers, were people from all walks of life there or was it pretty skate specific?

It was mostly skaters, for sure. Some of the crew were professional skatepark builders and avid DIYers, and others were just dudes like myself with little to no concrete experience that just wanted to get involved. Some guys from Dreamland Skateparks (US) were there and some of the Danish and Belgian crews build parks all over Europe, so it was rad to have some professional park builders on the site. I learnt a lot from everyone.

There were volunteers from 22 countries among the 60+ people that came to help with the build. From Israel, Jordan, Russia, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, just everywhere. It was really amazing to see all these people travel on their own dime for such a great cause.

I was surprised to see a few random people there that don’t really have any connection to skating, that just wanted to be a part of something special. This one girl from Russia saw one of her friends help with the Myanmar project on Instagram and she decided that it would be cool to get involved with this project. I thought that was pretty rad.

Where did you guys all stay, what was the accommodation setup like?

So we all stayed in this house that was down the street from the build site. That house was so packed; it was insane. We all stayed on the floor, neck and neck, on camping mattresses and sleeping bags. Some of us in the living room, in the hallways, in the kitchen, camping outside; there were just bodies and stuff everywhere. We got cozy for sure. Those bathrooms were pretty trife haha.

“It’s a good thing that some of those kids have skateboarding to turn to because they have absolutely nothing else.”

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How big is the city, is it easy to get around Addis and is the transport safe?

Addis is huge, but we never faced any serious problems getting around. For short distances, we hopped in a mini bus that was 2 birr for a one-way trip. For long distances we would call or flag down a cab or mini bus, and that was where things got tricky.

If you don’t speak Amharic it can get tough depending on the taxi or cab driver. We had a few incidences where we spent an hour getting from a bar back to our house, which was actually a 15-minute drive, because the driver had no idea where he was going and couldn’t communicate with us. Most of the vehicles were actually in pretty bad shape. Some of those cabs can barely make it up a small incline so it was pretty funny.

What was the food situation like, is it all street food, it’s a good place for vegetarians isn’t it?

There wasn’t really much street food, just small sit-down restaurants that seat 10 people max, that are set inside and outside these shacks. The food was incredible; I’m definitely going to

miss the shiro and the ful! Definitely a good place to be if you’re a vegetarian; I never struggled to find something to eat. Although we did get around to trying other stuff, when we were building we always ate at this café adjacent to the skatepark, every single day. We had a tab with them and meals were included with our accommodations, so there was always somebody there. Although at times there were so many of us at the spot that it was just quicker to go somewhere else.

Tell us about the build, how long did you have to complete the project?

The official date for the start of the build was 1 April, but we probably started on 27 March. Opening day was set for 16 April and we barely made it. Crazy how quickly things came together, I still can’t believe that thing was finished in just shy of 3 weeks. The ground was poured on the 14th and we were getting some rain later on in the night, which made things a little tough, but everybody was able to pull it off with the help of lots of tarp and dedication. We were worried that things wouldn’t be ready for opening day on the 16th, and honestly we should

American DIYer Jerry Mraz 360 flips for a large crowd of onlookers.

“As soon as we’d head to another spot, we had a mob of 100+ people following us just to watch us skate; it was insane.”

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American shredder Jenna Hirt licks the lip.

have let the ground and some of the other obstacles set for another few days, but we barged it anyways and things worked out.

Did you all work in shifts 24/7, or was it long days and then nights off?

Once we got lights and concrete was being poured, some of us put in some time after hours. Once an obstacle is poured it takes several hours of TLC to make sure it comes out as best as it can, so some people pulled all-nighters making sure things got done properly.

On that note, what is the nightlife like in Addis, you went to see a pretty famous musician play one night didn’t you?

The nightlife was pretty fun, but I was more set on checking out some of the local music. The traditional music and jazz music scene is amazing. On any given night one can go to a bar or even a house gig to see incredible muFrontside smith grind, enjoying the fruits of hard labour.

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sic, that’s one of the things that is so special about Addis. One night we went to see Mulatu Astatke play at a jazz club that he owns. I had never heard of him prior to going but Mulatu Astatke is one of the pioneers of Ethio Jazz and still tours around the world at the age of 72. That show was incredible.

Who handled all the logistics for the park - cement, rebar, machinery and all that?

Robyn and Arne from ‘Make Life Skate Life’ took care of the logistics and procurement of supplies and machinery. What was needed was reported to them and they made it happen from there.

How did you come up with a plan of what to build, did someone have a set design or did you just wing it as you went?

The rad thing was that there was no set design prior to the build. One or two people had a good idea of what would make sense within the space that was allocated and people just brainstormed and snowballed ideas from there. The design didn’t really matter much, because once we had the concrete available, people just took charge of obstacles and made it happen. Once more people arrived, the design changed slightly and people would just build shit. It was an interesting dynamic to not have a set blueprint or anyone 100% in charge, but it definitely made the park more special and unique.

Was there any Government involvement for funding, or corporate sponsorship, or was this whole thing funded via donations?

All funding for the park was made via donations to the Indigogo campaign from donors from all over the world. There was no government or corporate involvement whatsoever. ‘Make Life Skate Life’ has made initiatives to crowd-fund parks all over the world; this Addis park being their 5th project, following a

Stuart Walker wild in the streets

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Japanese legend and general style master Daiki Hosoda 50-50s for the kids

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Stuart Walker floats frontside at the park’s grand opening

build in Myanmar only a few months prior. Sean from ‘Ethiopia Skate’ has been living in Addis on and off for the past few years and has been helping the kids out in the area. He collaborated with ‘Make Life Skate Life’ to secure the location and get the ball rolling from there.

look hot, it’s all about skateboarding; that’s what I admire most about that crew. Skating is still very new in Ethiopia but there are a few kids that are ripping and definitely have potential.

They are already going-in at the park so keep an eye out for those kids!

What is access like for this new park facility - is it open every day to anybody, or is it inside a sports complex or something like that, with specific hours?

Tell us about that Megabi mini ramp in the township, it’s been in photos from a tour with some US guys (Tony Hawk, Hyjah, etc) back in 2015. Who runs that spot and how did it come about?

Yeah the park will be open every day. The park doesn’t have lights so it will most likely close at dark. It’s located on the premises of a Youth Centre so there is football, volleyball, and other activities happening nearby. There is a shipping container on site and there will be loaner boards and safety gear accessible on a daily basis, managed by ‘Ethiopia Skate’.

Our buddy Jason who works at the Canadian Embassy goes there every now and again to DJ for the demos that they do on a semi regular basis, and he invited us to come along one day. The Megabi Skate demos are headed up by this guy named Isadore (Izzy) and the setup basically consists of skating the mini, poetry readings, singing and dancing from the kids. There is an incredible energy about those sessions that just has to be experienced first hand. No words could do it justice.

It was an amazing thing to be a part of. The poverty in that particular area was unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before, even compared to some of South Africa’s worst ghettos. It’s a good thing that some of those kids have skateboarding to turn to because they have absolutely nothing else. Literally almost all those kids were skating in sandals. Nonetheless, the kids were really stoked to skate with us and we had a good time hanging out and teaching them some new stuff.

Where exactly is it located in Addis, if someone travelling there wants to check it out?

For a point of reference, it’s a block away from Laphto Mall, off of South Africa Street and is in a part of town with several embassies. The South African embassy is only a 10-minute skate from the park.

What are the local skaters like in Addis, this new facility will obviously encourage development, are any young kids starting to show potential?

The skaters are mostly teenagers and are all super cool and down to earth kids. No one is out there trying to swag out and

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What is crime like in Addis, did you feel safe or should people travelling there be a bit cautious?

You could get ‘got’ in Addis just like anywhere in the world;

“The crew were professional skatepark builders and avid DIYers, and others were just dudes like myself with little to no concrete experience”

you just have to make smart decisions about not being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think as a whole people have a mutual respect for each other and look out for one another, so crime isn’t so bad. I was told by one of the locals that crime against tourists was so bad at one point that a community watch was put into place to make sure those criminals got dealt with. A large portion of the city’s income comes from tourism and crime was so bad that it was hurting the economy at one point. Now it’s a much safer place for tourists to be.

Addis is safe.

Tell us about your street skating missions, did you have much time to explore the streets and what was the reaction from locals; were people hyped or antagonistic toward skateboarding?

With 60+ people on the build, there were times when we would just stray off for a few hours and get some street skating done, because there was always someone at the site. Once things got serious with the build, the missions became fewer and farther between, but we managed to get a few good sessions in.

The staple spot called ‘Sarbet’ has curbs and a little DIY quarter to a ledge, and good flat ground. This was the spot all the locals skated before the park was built. We’d usually roll by there and just cruise the city and bomb hills, hoping to find stuff to skate. Most of the best stuff of course had heavy security armed with AK47s, but we did come across some gems.

Our last day out skating was the day before we flew home and it was probably the most productive and most memorable. We

skated around Mercato, which is a part of town with blocks of markets that employ thousands of people. It was a bit crusty but there were a few rad things to skate in the area. As soon as we put our boards down, we were drawing China-like crowds at the session. One of the locals that showed us around said that they have never skated in that part of town, so the locals were super intrigued to see a group of (obvious) tourists skating in their area. As soon as we’d head to another spot, we had a mob of 100+ people following us just to watch us skate; it was insane. It was like all those girls chasing Rob Dyrdek through LA in that old DC commercial.

Most people we encountered were all waves and smiles, and happy to see us skating through the streets. We were skitching on cars, bombing hills and taking over the streets as skateboarders tend to do. Most people even let us skitch with a smile, and would be filming us with their cell phones at the same time! It was so rad. However there’s always going to be that person that isn’t psyched. There were a few people that were bummed on us that gave smug looks and shouted out of concern. My favorite thing yelled at us was “This isn’t America!”

Finally, can you give us your 5 favourite things about your trip to Ethiopia?

The Hills Food / Coffee Music / Culture Friendly, beautiful people Meeting homies from around the world

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Introducing

Suhail Kader is a name you may have never heard of before, a young up-and-comer from the city of Durban. We often struggle to get content out of Durban because skate photographers are few and far between. After seeing Suhail’s ability and motivation over the past while, we reached out to him to see if we could get something together. In just a few weeks he managed to scramble his homies together, head out on a bunch of missions around the city and collectively they made this feature happen. That’s exactly what you need to do in order to build your scene, don’t sit back and wait for someone else to do it, do it yourself! Suhail rips and we’re stoked to have this genuine Durban street skateboarder in Session.

How old are you?

19 Did you grow up in Durban and where about do you stay?

I was born and brought up in Durban and I’m currently residing in Phoenix.

Where did you get into skating in Durban?

Living in Phoenix, Gateway is like 10 minutes away, so frequenting Gateway and seeing the park, that’s how I got attached to the skate scene, ever since then I’ve been hooked.

How did you get into the Cloudy Bros crew?

My homie Eddie and I skated together all the time and used to see the Cloudy Crew. We skated and chilled with them and that’s how I got into the family.

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The series of parks that the city used to have meant that it seemed like there was a lot going on and more people were involved, but the Cloudy Brothers have seemed to thrive off of motivation away from parks. Where does this motivation come from and do you feel like it’s having a positive influence on more people, outside the crew?

Yeah we had the Pavilion park for rainy days, we had the Gateway ‘pro’ section and the beachfront skatepark, things were lit for sure. Most of the Gateway park closed down and then the scene was more at Pavilion. After Pavilion closed down most guys that skated kind of left and fell away from skateboarding.

After that it was just the beach and that place gets really busy, so yeah we only had the streets to skate and I personally think that’s a good thing. It forced more

people into street skating and for sure that has had a positive influence in motivating outside crews and encouraging more people to skate their surroundings.

What’s the gnarliest thing you’ve ever seen go down at the beach park?

Damn it has to be Dlamini’s switch back tail big flip out! OMG he was going so fast and it was so smooth, power!

List 5 positives about skateboarding in Durban?

1 - It’s fresh because we’ve got a small but tight community that’s growing slow.

2 - There are plenty of good spots and security is pretty mellow.

Interview: Luke Jackson

Crooked grind pop over at Moses Mabhida Stadium - Photo Daniel Theron

3 - There are a lot of backyard parks and spots, and everyone is always hyped to link up.

4 - The East Coast has the best all year round weather conditions for skating.

5 - There are lots of good kids on the rise (Cloudy brothers).

Do you guys go out spot hunting regularly, or are there certain spots in a particular area that you mostly hit up every weekend?

We kind of warm up at the training facility (Moses Mabhida Stadium), that’s the meet up spot, or we just go straight into the city. Yeah we just look for spots and explore the city and have fun.

“Yeah we only had the streets to skate and I personally think that’s a good thing.”

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You guys skate the stadium a lot, what’s the vibe there, are you actually allowed to skate there or do you just cruise and avoid security however possible?

We are kind of allowed I guess.

It’s a really vibrant place. We just skate and don’t worry about the security, but at times they do get us haha.

Is skating in downtown Durban sketchy at all, are there places you guys won’t go, or as a crew is everything an option?

It’s a bit sketchy for sure, but we are down to roll wherever, just look hard and keep your eyes peeled all the time.

You come from a Muslim background right, which region does your ancestry stem from?

Yes I’m Muslim. My family originates from the sub continent.

“just look hard and keep your eyes peeled all the time”

Kickflip in downtown Durban Photo Eddie Galassi

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50-50 a sketchy round rail near Durban’s Hilton Hotel - Photo Mike Sparrow

Frontside bluntslide under pressure from security - Photo Daniel Theron

Is skateboarding something a bit taboo in your family’s culture, or are your parents supportive of what you do?

My parents are very supportive, my Dad motivates me all the time, they support me financially to purchase boards, shoes, etc. They help me out whenever they can, or I just hustle. Big thanks to my Mom and Dad. Tell us about the process of shooting for this feature, how long did you work on it and is there anything you never rolled

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away from that you’d like to go back for?

When I got this opportunity I was overwhelmed, it took me like 4 agonizing weeks, just meeting up with the homies on the weekend and going out skating. I hustled really hard to make this happen for sure. I had some security issues but I will go back.

List 5 of your biggest influences in skateboarding?

Mark Suciu, Josef Scott Jatta, FA (team Supreme), Daan Van Der Linden and Sebo Walker.

Who else in Durban should someone reading this lookout for that is killing it right now?

Honestly, so many guys are killing it. The scene is on the rise!

So many of the good skateboarders that come from Durban often seem to either move away when they get older or don’t skate that much anymore. Looking ahead, do you see yourself staying in Durban and building the scene in the long term or do you have aspirations to head elsewhere?

Under the radar switch heelflip - Photo Mike Sparrow

Yeah for sure, my family is here and I’m definitely looking forward towards building the scene, I also want to get to travel South Africa much more, before travelling the world. But finances are tough right now.

Any final thoughts to share?

A very big shout out to my parents, thanks to my friends and to Session Magazine for the feature.

“there are plenty of good spots and security is pretty mellow”

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Words: Luke Jackson Photos: Grant Mclachlan The next generation of 20SK8 is half the size, but they’ve got twice the kick.

Skateboarding has an insatiable thirst for new energy and new blood! Things need to progress, to be taken to new places and to evolve. Every generation learns the things that came before them right away, as this is their norm and their standard of what it means to be involved. They then push things one step further, and make their contribution. It’s completely refreshing to see a new individual do something you have never seen before. This isn’t something to resent, it’s an aspect that gives you hope that better things are coming. Over the last couple of years a few very young chaps have burst onto the scene. They possess ridiculous ability and have an unparalleled drive to ride a skateboard every single day. There’s no denying that they are already a force to be reckoned with.

The future is bright and it doesn’t belong to us, it’s theirs, and they will make it their own.

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Tyler – 14 Years Old

Tyler has dope style, back nosegrind true to form. sessionmag.co.za | 29

Shuaib Philander nollie inward heelflips the infamous set at Thibault Square.

Shuaib Philander, the general of the 20Sk8 crew, refers to these young rippers as the GGs. Shuaib has seen their potential from a young age and he’s taken them under his wing. He’s been promoting the young guns and pushing their skateboarding. There are more than just four of them that you need to lookout for and at every skate event another new face will surprise you. But Shuaib rallied together four of the heaviest hitters for this feature.

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ethan – 14 Years Old

Ethan 50-50s a new hotspot rail near Canal Walk. sessionmag.co.za | 31

Ethan Cairns frontside smith grind - Photo grant Mclachlan 32 | sessionmag.co.za

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Tyler Kammies front shuvs down seven.

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Grant Mclachlan linked with Shuaib and the young guns on just a handful of days, they have school in the week, rainy winter weather is setting in and one whole weekend was spent at Midway Mayhem, so this whole feature actually came down to just a few missions. The GGs made it count and delivered the goods for Grant’s camera in no time at all.

Tyler and Ethan are at every contest, pushing each other more and more all the time. These dudes are tiny, I mean like half the size of a fully-grown adult. But when you see them skate with enviable style and a big bag of tricks, they exceed all expectations. Tyler just got hooked up by eS Footwear too.

Ethan boardslides in Woodstock.

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Alex – 15 Years Old

Alex Williams bangs a hardflip down a long double set.

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Tyler backsmiths in Blouberg, not too far from home.

I’ve seen Alex murdering the rail at the Mill Street park in central Cape Town. The rate at which he seems to progress is astonishing. Joel in all honesty I haven’t seen as much of, but the way he was ripping at the Element ‘Make It Count’ contest and the banger he delivered for this feature show that he’s on it. That’s the thing about these kids, they spend a hell of a lot of time in skateparks, so if you’re there then you’ll see them practicing all day. If not, then you might not know just how good they are. However, when Grant and Shuaib take them out onto the streets, they make it look just as easy there too. As time goes on, let’s hope we get to see full street parts from them all. The 20SK8 video has been spoken about for months, if not years, whenever it does come out, expect good things!

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As Mike Chinner said to me, if skateboarding does make it into the Olympics, then this is the generation and these are the guys that will probably skate for South Africa.

Whether you’re into that idea or not, it might just be true.

joel – 14 Years Old

Joel Niemack varial heelflips a new development near Canal Walk

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Frontside bluntslide a makeshift rail tied across a gap in the floor, inside the Bellville Velodrome - Photo Jansen van Staden 40 | sessionmag.co.za

Jansen van Staden Interview: Adrian Henderson Photos: Jansen van Staden, Sam Clark & Jonathan Pinkhard

Joubert is fingerpicking ‘Bron-Yr-Aur’ by Led Zeppelin in his living room around 6pm on a Thursday night in Tamboerskloof, Cape Town. I don’t recognise the song. He tells me it’s name five times but I still don’t know it. That doesn’t surprise me. The van Staden brothers are purveyors of the obscure. The most obvious testament to that is the vast assortment of cacti and succulent plants they’ve accumulated on their balcony, stacked in rows on upright palettes.

Some of them were gifts, some donations, some were pulled from the ground on a skate trip, others still were straight out stolen. All have a story and most of the plants can survive in extreme conditions. They can outlast those other plants that have become accustomed, softened, to normal environments. They may have some spikes or weird texture but it’s all part of their survival. They’ve adapted. Yet they’ve remained true to their purpose. They’ve kept on going. They remain consistent despite being transported hundreds of kilometers from their origin.

If you haven’t got the comparison I’m drawing between these steadfast breathers of oxygen and the two van Staden brothers then I suggest you stop reading now. Finding out where Joubert’s mind is will undoubtedly be a rocky journey, kind of like wandering through dry, Karoo farmland for hours until you’re greeted with a perfect virgin ditch, solid ‘crete but a bit overrun with nature. It’s a bit of work, but the reward is so much sweeter that way.

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Backside 180 nosegrind the boot of Louis Taubert’s old Mercedes - Photo Jansen van Staden

So I wanted to start with where you were actually born?

I don’t think I even know dude. I think it was Pietersburg (now called Polokwane) or something?

Somewhere further north than Pretoria?

Yeah, we moved every year, from when I was about four or five.

A different place each time? Your dad a drug smuggler, running from the cops?

Haha nah I guess my mom just got different jobs. They were divorced. We stayed in a couple places. Pietersburg, Pretoria CBD my aunt also stayed there, Tzaneen for three years. Each year a different house.

Different schools the whole time?

Tzaneen was one school and then when we went to Pretoria it was Constantia Park Primary School from like Standard 1 to 5.

So you weren’t a farm boy?

We did stay on a farm... from eleven until thirteen. That’s where we started skating.

We had like a big front porch, lots of broken rails, broken gates and old fridges, things like that.

Where was the farm?

Near Kameeldrift in Marcel’s Valley, Montana, anderkant die berg.

So was it just you, your brother and your mom?

Yeah, well my mom was married to this... dickhead!

Did you see your dad often or what was the deal?

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We did, mostly on trips and things. He worked in Mozambique a lot so we’d go visit him there. That’s how we met Elisio and the skaters in Mozambique.

And were your interest in cameras and photography due to his influence?

No, that was mostly just skate videos. But later my dad also got very into photography.

So he wasn’t a photographer by trade?

Well, I guess he was, he had an interview or two in some magazines and would exhibit his work, but no, I think he studied Geology.

He always had this box of old, fancy rocks.

But he was more in project management.

Later in his life he started taking photography more seriously and getting published.

And when did filming start for you?

That was around 14. My mom got us one of those old cameras, with the tapes. Not the big VHS tapes but the ones you could put into a VHS tape. Back then you needed a whole capture system to get footage across. My step-dad knew this dude, an editor, this old ballie, and we went to his house.

We’d filmed all this footage and we sat and made a ‘sponsor me’ video (laughs). I think Conrad still has it. We used a Fugazi song so at least that’s on point (laughter).

So it was the farm and then high school?

Yeah, we moved almost every year up until I was 13 and then we had a house until Jansen and I went to London.

Was it in high school that you guys got to know the Thrashers park so intimately?

Thrashers was probably the place where we spent most of our youth. At first we weren’t allowed to go there because my mom was convinced it was a drug-infested establishment. Soon she budged and everyday after school we would either skate there or my Grandpa would drop us off. He was very supportive with our skating. I guess he knew we loved it and wouldn’t let it go. Although, he would have been extremely happy if we had felt the same way about team sports like rugby or cricket.

These infamous PTA DIY spots that you guys lived through, how does that timeline work?

Was it the Ghetto spot first?

Yeah Given found it, he was always there, under the tree, talking smack (laughs). Given, Ian and Nico were always there. It was in Sunnyside. Given dubbed it ‘The White Place’ because very simply, it was painted white. And that’s how the TWP crew came about. We just skated Thrashers because it was close to our house, but whenever they’d come to the park we’d skate with them. We weren’t allowed to skate at ‘The Ghetto’ spot at first.

Why? What was there?

No, well, one of the first times our step-dad took us there, he dropped us off and Ian and all those dudes were already skating.

But, you know how it looks... It’s just a broken down building... So he comes back about ten minutes later and says he saw a condom lying there, and this and that, and his

friend from the army got shot just over there or some shit, “Get in the car we’re going” he said. We weren’t allowed to go there again.

But we ended up just taking a taxi there every weekend, every day of the holiday.

A bunch of little white kids filling up taxis... (laughs).

Was that where the Plankie crew really started?

I guess so, yeah we just combined. Ian and his friends made a video, a TWP video, and then they lost their camera or something. It’s funny but Nico and I can’t remember the first time we met. We just started skating together and that’s the way it’s always been.

So was Skinner spawned after The Ghetto spot?

Yes, Deon and Dirk found it years before, they just looked at it, but didn’t skate it. We also found it way after that. Ian, Jansen and I made a mission, and I think Yann was there too, we took his directions. There was nothing there other than that gap. Jansen tore his ligaments that day. He tried to kickflip it. I’ve got footage of all this shit dude. He tore his ligaments and yoh that shit sucked man. I think I just messed my hands up. The first day skating Skinner I was trying to ollie it first and stuck on the shitty landing and had this big hole in my hand so I was over it. Jansen tried to kickflip it and fucked his foot up, and then he filmed, with his foot all swollen and shit, he filmed Ian doing it... kickflipping it (laughs). That was funny.

So when did you start building shit there?

Well the Ghetto kinda got fucked up, for a while we had to pay security guards to go skate the stuff we built. So the first thing that got put in at Skinner was a rail, bolted into the ground. That got stolen. Then we built the ledge with Nico’s design. That was a badass ledge. Still is! That thing takes people out. They’ll have to break the building down to move it. All the other things that got built there got broken. The pole jam got stolen, the house ledge (A-Frame ledge), some truck drive was testing his brakes and drove through it. They had drifting there. That place was wild! You’d go there and find tyres everywhere. Nico is the brains behind most things built at Skinner.

Somewhere along the way you stayed in Joburg?

Yeah I did, Jansen and I, because we were studying there. We first stayed in Midrand, which is just outside Centurion. We got a lift with my mom and if you want to be at work on time you have to leave at like six. And our classes only ever started at nine. After a while we just thought screw this and got a flat there, right across from the university.

You obviously skated the city a lot more at that time?

Yeah that’s when I started skating way more with Maanda and Wandile and them. They had come to skate Thrashers and we’d seen them at Monte Casino. That’s also around the time JP started skating with us. I skated a lot with those dudes.

Was there a specific time when you met the older dudes? Or were they always around?

We never really went through it like that. We started helping Clint with AV when we finished Plankie 3. We had all these photos and shit, and thought maybe they’d like to do a ‘Making of’ article or something. So we met with Bod close to his house and Clint was

Nosegrab-tail-tap at Cape Town’s most infamous bump-to-bar - Photo Jansen van Staden

there, and he told us about how he wanted to start up AV again. And that he needed help with the filming. That’s when I started filming other dudes a lot.

And had you already met them by then?

Yeah we’d seen them at ‘The Ghetto’ spot.

A little while before that, after we’d been in the UK, probably around 2006, we’d taken them photos of a trip to Barcelona that I did with Jansen, Wynand and Julien. Plus they reviewed Plankie 1 in the mag, so we were familiar.

It wasn’t like in Cape Town where you had only heard of those guys in magazines.

You never really saw any of them in person down here.

Yeah we’d see them all the time at ‘The Ghetto’.

Did you have a favourite local skateboarder when you were a kid?

Mine was Brendan Ryall. I always knew when he was in town. Someone would poach some footage and we’d put it in the

Plankie video. Also Wayne Shatkovsky, all the 1610 dudes, the Skates For Africa guys, Thys Uys and Cios! Cios Steenkamp, yoh he was good!

So when you started with AV, Plankie was still just a crew?

We just made videos and shit, and skated together. I guess it kinda calmed down when we went to London, but Deon and them kept it going you know. Once we were back it was just kinda natural to start making some shit.

So how long where you in London for?

2006. Just for a year.

Didn’t you do medical trials?

Yeah, we tested arthritis drugs.

Arthritis drugs? Did you have any side effects?

No, I don’t think so... Jansen did it first so then I went in. I was the second batch. It was cool. Ten days in and I think we got 2,057 pounds.

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Frontside boardslide on some Blouberg DIY - Photo Jansen van Staden

And you just chill and get food and everything?

Ja. There’s internet, pool tables, Xbox... You just chill.

How many times did you do that?

Once, and Jansen did it twice I think. You’re only allowed to do it every 3 months or so.

Otherwise you get blacklisted.

Did you do other work?

Yeah, we did all the hard labour jobs. All the shitty jobs! Where your hands are stiff in the morning, you can’t hold a cup of coffee.

The first proper job we got was picking up litter in the parks. Just throwing shit away in the bins. That was a pretty chilled job.

Got quite a bit for that. We did that for 3 months. And it was cool because it was all these homies from Pretoria. We all stayed in a house, so dudes that were staying with us also started working there. Dudes from Vryheid that we’d met too. So it was a bunch of us fucking around in a park all day. We found an old motorbike there once that someone just left by the trash. It was a delivery bike, probably stolen or something. We just fucked around with it the whole day.

So it was you, Jansen and Wynand. Didn’t you meet Wynand there?

No we met Wynand earlier than that. Nico went on a holiday to Fish Hoek and he met him. Then a couple of months later he invited Wynand to come with us to Klerksdorp on a little mission for about 2 weeks. That’s where we first met him. We first stayed pretty far from each other but then we stayed like 2 stops away which was cool. We’d always just sit in his kitchen and drink. That was our

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pass-time. We’d skate and then drink in the kitchen. Once, we were skating this 8-stair rail with Simon and Deon. Deon didn’t land the feeble and Simon destroyed that thing with front feeble, flip front board and what not, and we went back to Wynand’s house to go chill and have a drink. After a while Deon got really amped to go try the feeble again. So we went back and he broke his foot (laughter). Jassis dude, I had to piggyback him for like... quite a while hey. Some lady stepped on his foot in the bus too (laughs). Then I had to piggy-back him all the way to Wynand’s house and to the hospital. We also bought the VX while we were over there. That’s important!

Ahhh that’s where the VX makes an appearance, did you have a fisheye for it?

We had a semi-fisheye for it that I filmed with in AV 4 I think, with Skippy’s part and all that.

Then Clint bought Puddy’s PD170 which had a lens. It had a Century Optics lens, MK 2.

So when you got back you were just filming even more?

Yeah I’d been filming since I’d been studying but then I filmed most of AV4 when Clint asked me to start helping. I went to PE with him and what not and that’s really where I started filming for him. I think Yann’s part was the first part I edited.

Did you go to Durban to film with him?

Yeah we had some footage in Durban with him. We knew him through Simon (Stipcich), Alwyn (Koorts) and Ryder (Nel). Deon and everyone met him the year we were in London.

And was Alywn up there?

He lived in Durban. We met him with Simon, a couple of months before we went to London. It’s weird that every time those guys would come to our house my mom wasn’t there for a while. They were stranded at the park the first time and my mom was away so we housed them for a couple weeks... or days, I’m not sure. We’d finished school by then.

And you just kept on housing skateboarders until you had the Plankie Mansion?

6 guys deep, living there, big ass dog, veggie garden... That place was cool!

Yeah you felt at home at that house. As soon as you walked in you felt it. A skate house!

That was the best house. And everyone from that house stays here in CT now. Except for Skippy. He’s the only one that isn’t down here. He’s the missing link.

That’s fine he’s killing it up there.

Yeah, with his tattoos. His style is so sick. I think he won some award recently for his colour tattoos or something. He was kind enough to hook my girlfriend and I up nicely, when we were up there in February. Got some dank tattoos. It may be a good thing that he’s not staying here because I’d just nag him for tattoos. Get covered (laughs).

You have a shitload of arbitrary tattoos.

Yeah, I like them!

Earlier it struck me that you guys are purveyors of the obscure, what’s with the collection of weird plants?

You mean like this? Wasabi Mayonnaise? (laughs) Yeah that’s fuck obscure. And I’m standing next to a photo of two bulldogs.

We had bulldogs long ago. They looked like that. Caesar and Sophie.

But it’s not a photo of them is it? It’s just a random photograph of a pair of bulldogs.

Yes. I bought it at the market for 15 bucks (laughs).

So where do all the plants come from?

We somehow just started accumulating plants at one stage. And then, as we went on trips we’d get more. Like you go out into the Karoo and the whole place is a cactus.

Are they all cacti or succulents?

Yup, I think Juan got us into more. I remember filming him once and he was like cutting something off a bush in these people’s yard.

He said it was ‘voorplanting’ (from cuttings).

Now we swap succulents and cacti.

Jansen was saying that Juan is the biggest contributor to your balcony garden?

Juan is our sponsor.

I was shitting myself when you said we have to take the plants home on the Vans trip.

Yeah, jeez I brought home a full shoebox!

Haha, Juan goes to places and he’ll buy like a pot and just cut leaves off succulents.

Pays like R15 (laughs). He’s sneaky like that.

So let’s talk about AV a bit. There’s huge

news this issue of the merger between AV and Session. You’ve been running AV predominantly these last few years. How did it get to this point?

Well, AV 5 I started editing things, Yann’s part and a few other things. Clint showed me how to do time-remapping and other things. He showed me a hell of a lot. Like I’ve said, I learnt a lot more from him than I did from university. I’ve never had to apply for a job, I just continued with this. So there was AV5 and then I did Kanya’s part in AV6. JJ (Harris) filmed that one. There’s always been contributor footage that we’ll edit together. From about issue 8 or 9 I was putting the whole DVD together.

The latest was Issue 29. Is there going to be a 30?

Nope, we’re done. It is no more, a sad thing.

It would have been cool to hit that 30 mark.

We’re just allergic to threes dude! There’s no number 3 and there’s no number 30! We went full circle on that. When AV3 was supposed to be made Clint started doing all the Session VCDs, which was pretty much AV. And now instead of issue 30, I’m going to be doing Session video content. It’s pretty funny.

And are you amped on the idea of merging the two platforms and doing away with the DVDs? Yes, I think it’s cool. I think Session needed the video backing all along, and we needed the mag backing, with the print articles you know? I mean, it felt like I was just sucking content out of thumb dude, like weekend articles and close ups and things.

Did it seem like things were getting tougher these last couple years?

In the beginning it was the best job ever, I mean, it still is. It’s fucken great. But in the beginning it was a case of cool, every three months you put out a video. Then you chill a bit, wait two weeks until DVDs get back and you can distribute it. Then you have 2 months before you have to wrap up the next one. So you’d go on trips and shit.

Whereas now it’s like the DVDs done but Monday, Wednesday and Friday I need to put out a webclip and the Instagram clip, and after the weekend you put out whatever you filmed on the weekend, but you have to still keep stuff for the DVD. Just in case you need a clip or two to fill something up.

Backside flip to hill bomb in Walmer Estate - Seq Sam Clark sessionmag.co.za | 45

So before you could build up footage, now you have to be constantly putting stuff out?

Yeah exactly, so now it’s a double-whammy, where people expect you to be doing so much more, but you don’t get paid more.

And I guess we’re also starting to see individual parts as almost a video on their own.

Yeah, it’s going to be cool, I guess Theoniel Share had the first ‘Where Is My Mind’ video part, and we’ll basically be carrying on like that.

So the ‘Close Up’ will become a ‘Where Is My Mind’ so to say?

Yeah, that’s what we’re trying to do. What I’m really keen on is doing a Session video every year. A proper video with full parts, I think that needs to happen.

So how often would you do full parts on the site?

Well there will be tons of web articles, we’ll carry on with the ‘High Fives’ and ‘Blue Mondays’ and all that, but on top of that there will be street articles. Like the 20SK8 lighties article, Grant started shooting with them for their article and I tagged along for some missions. I missed a couple too but hopefully someone filmed them. That will be an article, in the mag and online. And the website is going to be insane, there’s so much content... All the Session VCDs are going to be on there, all the AVs are going to on there. We’ll pretty much have all the South African videos up there.

Can people still send you clips to get coverage?

I’ve always encouraged people to send clips to us, and that still stands. One of the goals behind the new Session site is to create one massive platform to house South Africa’s skate content, from video edits that back up the print magazine’s content, to having regular footage dropping on the site from all over. For example, if you got the sickest slam and you want to be on a ‘Blue Monday’ clip, send that shit through!

Do you have any reservations though?

Well, the DVDs were becoming a hard thing to sell to advertisers, relying on international budget. It’s like we’re making DVDs and most dudes are sitting in an office with a mac that doesn’t even have a DVD drive. They’re watching Netflix on their TVs. We send them a DVD and they can’t even watch it. But they aren’t there in the street when you give it to a kid. They want a DVD. When I don’t have any I tell them I can give them the website and the response is always, “I don’t have internet.” And then you’re just like, “fuck I wish I had a DVD or a magazine.” That’s why I think online content with Facebook and Instagram is important, because everyone has a cellphone, but as for proper skate content that you want people to see, there isn’t going to be that avenue anymore.

And it’s data. They’re still paying to watch it. You got to be selective when it comes to watching videos, for a lot of kids.

And it’s so nice to sit in front of a TV... You know how kids are, you know how we were. You watched a skate video until you’d shit yourself. You wear nappies so you can watch it longer (Laughter).

That’s something I miss. You’d watch a video dead! Now you watch a part and it’s the most amazing part you’ve seen in how long, and then you never watch it again.

But that’s the sad thing, team videos make it cool you know? Now it’s just one dude’s in your face part, there’s no full team videos, it’s like you are your own marketing tool. Instead of promoting a company and getting people hyped on a company you’re just getting people hyped on yourself.

It’s about money now. It’s about getting paid!

Who’s getting paid? (laughter)

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Sexy boardslide, Joubert likes them long - Photo Jansen van Staden

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Wallie boardslide at the old JCE beast in Johannesburg - Seq Jonathan Pinkhard 48 | sessionmag.co.za

The majority of skaters have that sentiment, like yeah there’s money BUT, the skaters aren’t seeing it...

Yeah the skaters aren’t seeing it and the skaters jump through hoops at contests.

Someone gets ten grand and everyone is hyped.

It’s money hey. Do you think people don’t get the mental side of skating that well?

Well yeah, for that dude to have won that one contest he skated for 8 hours a day for 8 months and now he’s got ten grand... fantastic dude. Thank you. And thanks for the free drinks. People do get money, at least something. And the lucky dudes who get incentive for podium places, they make more money out of it.

That seems the only way, there aren’t really many companies paying skateboarders professionally.

Well if you think about, if companies did pay everyone they wouldn’t be so hungry to go skate every little contest in every little town. Little kids are getting shut down by the top 3 dudes in the country every time there’s a little contest in No-mans-land. The little kids want to win sometimes. I remember we always had beginner, intermediate and advanced in comps. Now you have a 12 year old up against Moses. Good luck brah (laughter).

What’s Plankie’s view on the turning dudes professional, would you do the whole pro model thing?

No. We can’t afford to pay anyone. We’d love to have Alan or Skippy on a board but it’s not viable, we’re not paying them.

Orders are too slow, the exchange rate screwed us!

Yeah what happened there? You guys are now moving to locally pressed boards?

Orders from overseas just got too expensive when the rand dipped like that. Yoh dude.

When we were selling to a shop we were making like 30 bucks. So then you don’t really want to sell to a shop, and then everyone who buys in the street wants one for free.

And you can only sell so much by yourselves.

Well people help us sell. Dudes in Durban are amped. Pretoria guys too. The dudes who ride for us always have boards to sell.

We don’t tell them they have to sell like 50 boards a month or anything.

Targets. Maybe you should give them targets?

Hah, give me your CV. And no off-days (laughter) This is retail muthafukah! But we’re getting our first order now from a guy making boards in Cape Town.

You’ve got those and a new video dropping?

Yeah that’s what we ‘re waiting on. The video is pretty much done. Then we’re just waiting on the boards to tie it in. We just make this shit and then try to sell it. We’ve never really put things together, except for the Plankie/Dope video, with the t-shirts and boards. But I’m really amped on this series.

Making the boards locally means we can have more of a variety of graphics too. Plus we don’t have to deal with shipping. Shipping always bites you in the ass.

I understand you’re a bit more limited on sizes though?

Well the dude is still growing. It’s just going to get better with time. The more we order

from him the better it’s going to get which we want to do, help things grow. It also means we can make a little more on shop sales, meaning we can get the boards out to more cities. It’s all been about making boards more affordable for people. I mean you’re supporting a dude making boards in Cape Town, whose factory is going to grow.

And then people start working for the factory, know what I mean? It’s going to be good.

Have you guys been testing them?

Wandile got some made with Funisu and they looked good. We got some samples, had our dudes riding them and yeah they go.

Anton (Roux) was riding one. Didn’t break it.

Yeah Anton is going to be our new guy...

Ah shit you’ve jumped the gun, we can’t talk about that yet. Josh is the new guy? (laughs) Yeah Josh is our thug.

He’s been staying with you?

I was present for his move from Rustenburg to CT. We stopped over in Kimberley and did that weekend article for AV. And then took a bus back to Cape Town. That was a cool trip. That’s when his mom moved to Gordon’s Bay. At the time Marcel was staying with us at the towers, then he moved out to his girlfriend’s place. Thys moved in there, and then he also moved out to a girlfriend. That’s when Josh came to stay. He’d been crashing on Dennis’ couch or something. People think he’s a maniac but he’s so chilled. He just needs to watch skate videos... I think he’s addicted to it.

How was your move down to the Cape?

We packed our car and we fucked off.

We had a going away thing at our house and we gave most of our things away to the movers. Jansen gave away Thys’ TV (laughs). He was just, “You want this TV? Take this TV!” That was the Plankie Mansion. Was it at your mom’s house?

No, we rented it. She stayed there and we moved in after studying. She wasn’t working at the university anymore. A couple of months after that, Marcel and Skippy started working at Revolution in Menlyn. We hadn’t seen Marcel for quite a while, but they needed a place to stay and we had a granny flat, so they moved in there. Then we kinda kidnapped Dennis from Centurion (laughter). Well, he got kicked out of his house or something because we went to Durban (laughs). I just said if your dad kicks you out then you can come stay at our place. So he and Thys escaped Centurion. No don’t say escaped, Werner will be bummed. Haha ow Werries! So then my mom moved out when they all moved in.

So you kicked your mom out?

Ja she had to go (laughter).

So you packed the car and just moved across the country?

When our lease ended we packed the Jetta. We had some big plan to all move together. We saved rent money for that whole year. I think it was after that Dwindle trip.

When I got back I told everyone we needed to move to Cape Town. We’d also just started getting to know Pieter (Retief) and those dudes better, and everything was kind of falling into place. In Pretoria all I was doing was waiting for the weekend to go skate and film for AV. Everyone had a day job. Down

here you can film someone every day. So if I wanted to get content Cape Town was the best place to be. I guess I was also a bit over Pretoria. You know when you’ve been somewhere for so long, it was just time for a change. We drove about 120 boards down, 2 Macs and each had a bag of clothes and a box of shit. That’s all we had.

Yeah you moved in with me, that flat got full pretty quickly.

Ja, who else was all there? It was Kanya, Khulu, Dlamini and some other random guys. Then you, Frank (Prinsloo) and Kyle (Porter)... and there were only 2 couches and then you 3 had beds (laughs). Jansen slept behind the couch, between the couch and the wall. Pieter built a wall. He was out before we got there. And Sam (Clark) was a couple of floors above. We ended up taking over his flat when he went to Europe. His is roommates were still there, a couple, and it was Marcel, Jansen and I in this tiny room for a month. Marcel left soon after we did.

He got over Pretoria too and got a job at Revolution down here. It’s so hard finding a flat in Cape Town. We got lucky because we had friends who stayed in flats and that had to move out. Jansen’s girlfriend stayed here and moved out but he knew her old roommate who was leasing it. That guy was moving to India, he’s actually marrying a Ms. India... It’s pretty intense, Ms. India marrying a dude from Rustenburg! He’s pretty rad and he skates too. Anyway, he moved out and we didn’t have a place. At the time I was in Joburg and just before our lease at the towers ended, Jansen phoned and said end of the month we had a place to move into. The towers were really cool. But you only had one exit. You feel like you’re living in a cave. Check, now we have THREE exits.

We’re living dude (laughter). That wind was hectic though, you’d see the water moving in the toilet and you couldn’t open your windows. We had a lot of dudes stay at that flat. Ian, Wong, Kanya slept there for a bit, Louis stayed there for a bit, Dlamini stayed for a couple of months, well 2 weeks which turned into a couple of months. Dewald stayed there and Pieter stayed there, he paid us in beer!

Of everyone who ever stayed over, who was the biggest headache?

Let’s just say if you came with the right attitude and carried your own weight then you were more than welcome to crash there.

You respect our space and we’ll respect whatever it is you do.

There must have been plenty of incidents?

Too many! Wong peed himself in the lift one time.

Seems like you’re always going on trips, especially this last year?

Last year was hectic. There were four #OnTheMission trips, each ten days or so, then there was a 10 day Vans trip, and another 5 day Vans Trip in January. I also went with Yann to Jozi for a bit. As well as the Mozambique mission with KDC. Trips are the best thing.

So you don’t think you’ve seen enough of South Africa yet?

Well we want to go more into Africa. What are you going to do in Europe? Find all the spots from the magazines? I want to skate shit I’ve never seen before. That’s the thing with the Vans trips, it’s not just your legs that

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get stiff. Your arms, your hands, at every spot you know you’re going to clean for like an hour and a half before you start skating. This ditch needs a cleaning. What was also cool was because these last few we’ve been driving so far every day, one of the only times you get to skate is early in the morning.

We got most of the photos on this past one before 10AM. Anton is the king of getting photos before 8AM. With that guy you have to keep your camera on your lap. He knows and I know, so it works. He’s a maniac!

So you’re the Vans Team Manager now, when did that happen?

Around the beginning of the year. I guess they’re doing a lot of work you know, they need help to run things. Help with the orders, everything will get funneled through me on the skate side. Planning all the trips, keeping riders happy, they don’t have to worry about that. Someone has to answer all the silly questions. It helps that Brett is always amped as well. It’s cool he’s living closer to us now.

It seems like the combination of dudes is working well?

I think it’s coming together. We get to pick the dudes who we go on trips with. It’s like the main thing you do. You plan trips. It allows dudes to see more of the country. It’s about getting the right dudes for the job.

You don’t want someone who isn’t going to help pack the van, or clean the ditch, or go buy water. You don’t want to have to ask every time. We’re all there and we all know what we want to do. Don’t make it difficult for other people. Sometimes there’s this attitude of, “cool, I’m just here to skate the spot. Just be ready with that camera!” So must I clean it for you and then film it? And get you water after?

You must have seen every type of mentality towards skating over the years?

Yeah, it’s funny, like when dudes form a line when you start filming with someone. Then they kind of expect you to film them while he’s walking back. You end up filming 20 people at a time. I also want to skate you know? So I like it when people land a trick first, before we film. I don’t want to film you learning a manual trick for four hours, just in case you get lucky with one. If you’ve done it once, you can do it again. Or you could put a line to it or something. But I do think it’s lame when people expect you to film from the get-go. There’ll be exceptions, like with Anton you know he’s just going to go for something, he might kill himself. You’ll get something out of it. And Khule, Moses and Allan Adams, those guys are super good.

But sometimes it’s like, you know you can do it and I know you can do it, so let’s see it then!

There’s a lot more to this than just getting a photo, or getting a clip.

I think the internet has made people used to seeing content all the time. Everyone sees everything, even some stupid little kickflip on some hashtag somewhere. Back in the day you’d wait for the video to come out, it really meant something. The Reason, or a new Zero video... You’d watch that thing for a year straight. Like when Baker 2 came out...

It changed lives!

Yeah, exactly! Fucken great. There are people who skate with their friends and then those who would rather learn one trick in a

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skatepark for four hours straight, with their headphones on. I think it should be way more fun, go skate something you’ve never skated. Skate anything. Slappy curbs!

You never used to skate transition did you?

Not in Pretoria. I guess I owe that to the Clarkes bowl and mini ramp, and Brett and those dudes. We did search for pools in Pretoria but those were all pretty much just wallrides. Now we go skate with Brett and Dallas, and you’re emptying out something that you can actually skate. Whether it’s some tiny little thing or that 17ft Cape Town high school pool. That’s definitely the biggest thing I’ve skated.

So where is your mind Joubert?

I don’t know I’m still trying to find it.

Do you feel like you’re an adult yet?

I don’t know, what does it mean to be an adult? I guess ja, I’m over ‘kinderkak’ (childish things). I just want to do my own shit. Like play guitar and skate cool shit when I can skate. Film something cool now and again, I mean I film everyone constantly so it’s nice to get a clip every now and again. But I guess yeah, I pay bills, I get shit done...

Is it working out being an adult skateboarder so to speak, like making a life for yourself?

Well I guess we’re a few of the lucky ones, well Jansen works poes hard at the moment with other jobs, but we’ve been lucky in that we can pay bills from skating. Not skating itself, but through skating. Skateboarding has paid my bills since 2008. I haven’t applied for a job or anything. I’ve done some freelancing here and there but that’s it. But it was hard with AV. People would pay for advertising but expect SO much more. Film the trip, film this contest, edit it... All of that costs money. We have to fly people around, pay for footage, some of our contributor bills were heavy because we always tried to pay people for good footage. We paid Craig R5000 last time, which is not bad seeing as he films on the side.

Yeah the avenue is there. He bought his own camera, works a day job, filmed when he was out skating and made some cash off of it.

Exactly. Then he lost his camera... (laughs) Well, he left it on the roof of the car in Paarl.

But that little pay out means he can get a new one. I don’t know, people kind of expected AV to cover everything. When they did anything they would just be on there. I mean it took years to build the platform, to establish it as a place for quality skate footage. It was never mine or Clint’s, it was South Africa’s you know? It was for everyone. We never went, “Oh I don’t like this guy, I’m not putting him in.” The footage speaks, if we have it and it’s sick then it’s in.

Jansen: That’s why the Veg Squad video is so rad. If everyone could do that in every city... start a crew, film your own shit, do your own thing... That would be fantastic.

Yeah like when we were younger, all the guys in the industry now were all making videos but we didn’t know about each other.

Pieter and The Streets crew, you guys and your Damd videos, us with Plankie, none of us knew what the others were doing. We just made videos because we wanted to make videos. Now kids just put clips on Instagram.

Every person has a camera but...

Jansen: They’re not utilizing it, not trying to build their skills with it.

Yeah, that’s what’s so cool about the Veg dudes. It reminds me of the first or second Plankie video. All your homies, I mean it’s still the same for me when I go out skating now.

I’ll skate with dudes I’ve known for like ten years. Another thing is it would be nice to see more companies paying skaters to run their programs. That’s what adidas are doing so well. Pieter is super on top of things.

And Vans too.

Well yeah, like Brett and I will sit down and find out what all the dudes are doing, when they’re available for trips. We plan who is going on what trips. He’ll send me monthly Google Earth images of pools he wants to go drain or something (laughs). But he’d be doing that anyway. He’s always searching for spots and it’s so cool that Vans are backing it. It’s those situations that do a lot for skating. When companies back what dudes are doing. Like how Yann is everywhere, and Dlamini is always on a mission. They back the dudes that work for it. There’s no, “I’m waiting for someone to send me over.” It’s like fuck dude, just go. Go and sleep on couches, do whatever is needed to do what you want.

Jansen: It’s the same with the filming thing, why are you waiting for someone to come film you?

Yeah, buy your own camera and go film stuff. That’s the only way dudes will get better at filming and skating for that matter.

Check how good the Veg video was? And when they film another one it is going to be even better. The only way you’re going to get good at something is if you do it a lot. And you will fuck up, that’s fine. You’re going to delete clips! (laughter) You’re going to accidentally ghost-film (record in between the tries and not the actual tries), we’ve all been victim to that at some point.

You’re going to smash a camera, or someone’s going to smash your camera on a hill... (laughter) Someone’s going to piss on your camera bags...

Someone’s going to pick up your camera bag and you’ll see your lens rolling down the street... (laughter) Ok let’s wrap this, any thanks or words of wisdom for us?

Words of wisdom? Firstly, I’d like to thank my parents. Everyone who has supported Plankie and AV over the years, without it we are nothing! Thanks to the OG PTA crew who made my childhood such a blast, and the reason I’m doing what I’m doing: Nico, Deon, Skippy, Dirk, Given, Boi P, Khumo, Hartmut, Ian, Ribs, Justin, Dale, Graham, Julien and Marcel. Thanks to Clint for getting me involved with AV, it changed my life. And to Bod and Luke at Session for being so down with SA skating and pushing it to where it is today. Sam for always being down to mission out of the city. Praise be the Plankie squad!

You’re family to us. Thanks to the Cape Town homies who keep the skate flame lit inside me - Juan, Wynand, Justus, Clinton, Pieter, Brett, Dallas, AD, Anton. Jansen for the endless support he gives me and for being at my side all these years, I’m glad we are over beating the shit out of each other. And last but not least thanks to Jess, the lady in my life. You really are the sweetest!

Joubert hooks a feeble into the beast’s lip at Cape Town High School - Photo Jansen van Staden 51 | sessionmag.co.za

Element Make It Count Payday

Element’s annual Make It Count contest took place at the newly revamped ‘The Shred’ skatepark in Cape Town. Guys travelled from around the country to see if they could win the all expenses paid trip to Barcelona that Element had on offer.

Junior’s podium, Tyler Kammies in 1st.

MC Dallas

The level of skating at local contests is insane nowadays, and there is a host of kids doing insane stuff that you haven’t seen them do before.

The day started with a ‘14 and under’ division that had its fair share of mongo pushing. But the cream rises to the top and style matters!

Tyler Kammies claimed top honours, with Ethan Cairns in close second and Dean de Clercq from the Eastern Cape rounding out the podium in third.

The 14 and over division saw some heavy hitting battles but in the end local Cape Town magician Allan Adams claimed the trip to Europe, doing flawless maneuvers in the finals that he didn’t seem

to have practiced at all during the day, both regular and switch! Khule Ngubane from Durban ripped it all day with hardflip backlips and such, but narrowly missed out after a few step-offs in the finals, but he bagged a well-deserved second place.

Byron Rhoda flew around all day and scored third.

The most insane trick of the day was surely Jean Marc Johannes’ full cab kickflip backlips on the flatbar across the box, he banged several in the morning but unfortunately came short in the finals and medics were called in to help him out.

Colby crooked grinds with his little bro in the background, these two young brothers Shred!

Allan is off to Barcelona to film a video part out in the streets, no doubt that’ll be a pleasure to watch.

Shuaib Philander inspiring the kids to do backsmiths.

52 | sessionmag.co.za

Words: Luke Jackson Photos: Grant Mclachlan

Khule, high speed frontside hurricane.

Allan Adams, 1st place and off to Barca.

Making it count - Khule, Allan and Byron.

sessionmag.co.za | 53

Jono K

Jono K

Payday

Words: Brett Shaw Photos: Jansen van Staden, Jono K When you smell like petrol, all your bearings are ceased, you can’t hear what your friend is saying because Slayer and the GOAT are tormenting your ear drums, you’re not sure if the wet patch on your knee is blood and Chris Cab is setting the pool on fire. Then you know that the skate Gods are happy and that this is going to be one of the best sessions of your life… if you don’t die.

When it comes to skateboarding there are a lot of yellow-bellied swamp rats that use skateboarding for their own personal gain. From skate parks to retail there are a lot of them, the “I used to, I’m too old to now” people that make money out of skateboarding. There are very few people that have dedicated their life to a cause and ridden the highs and lows to get there. When I look at the friendships I have developed with Mazwi, Thabane and G over the years it’s mind blowing to think that a white cat from the suburbs can be such good friends with 3 rural Zulu dudes, purely because we all ride a skateboard. That is the impact that one man’s vision can have. In my eyes Dallas is the champ and Indigo youth movement is really special and that’s why I have backed it from day 1, even

when it was just a small spark of 1 mini ramp in the middle of nowhere and Dallas had this optimistic look in his eyes. The last Indigo pool we hit was the Greytown pool on an Indigo skate camp mission 10 years ago, so it was about time that Murth & Indigo joined forces to drain another monster.

Abandoned pools are the holy grail of skateboarding. They are sacred and we have invested a lot of our time and energy over the years into finding and emptying them, so “The Beast” was extra rad because with this pool we got to celebrate 15 years of the Indigo skateboarding initiatives. And this was the first pool that we emptied in Cape Town, since Dallas and I moved here.

“The flat bottom in the deep end leaks half a bucket of water every 15 minutes and there is 5 foot of vert.”

54 | sessionmag.co.za

When I walked the wall at the Indigo skate gala and I saw all the photos on display it was insane to soak up the history. Everyone from Tony Hawk to ‘2 chains’ has been touched. There has been good and bad times, awards and failures, we have laughed and cried, got tick-bite fever from dropping turds in the bush, people have come and gone and Dallas even nearly died when his van spun out of control into a ditch on the side of

Jansen van Staden

Thank you Vans, Red Bull, Laureus sport for good, Baseline for the Khulu bucks and everyone who helped bail, we needed all of you to make this possible.

Extra thanks to Charl Jensel, Mathew Fransman and your posse, we couldn’t have drained this sucker without you, double shaka for getting balls deep in duck sludge with us.

Support skateboarder run projects because we all know who the fakes are.

Jansen van Staden

a highway, when a mini ramp on a trailer jack knifed him. As skateboarders we need Indigos and we need SESSION so that we can provide opportunities for the haves and the have-nots. “The Beast” is just that, 13-15 odd feet deep, depending on who you are. The flat bottom in the deep end leaks half a bucket of water every 15 minutes and there is 5 foot of vert. Basically, she is perfect and not even the world’s worst DJ could stop us from getting some.

Yann Horowitz picks the beast’s nose.

sessionmag.co.za | 55

CLOSET ENVY Threads for shred

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EMERICA REYNOLDS 3 X INDEPENDENT TRUCKS STYLE GURU MATT LESCH TOOK A PAIR OUT FOR A NOSEGRIND OR TWO. MATT’S THOUGHTS: It’s a really slick looking shoe, low profile. It has padding all around your foot and feels very comfortable. It has a cushy sole, real good for skating big shit as well as low impact skating. Overall it’s a really good-looking shoe, the type of shoe I would usually go for.

56 | sessionmag.co.za

VANS / TORREY JACKET

VANS / MILFORD BEANIE

DC /THUNDERSTRUCK BEANIE

Need more info on this product email info@sessionmag.co.za

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Vans Pro classics - 50th anniVersarY collection

VaNS PRo CLaSSICS AUTHEnTIC PRO ‘66

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Each style represented in the Vans Pro Classics 50th Anniversary Collection incorporates classic designs from Vans’ history, but updated and upgraded under the hood to withstand the enhanced performance requirements of today’s skateboarding demands. Identified by a distinctive PRO CLASSICS label package, Vans PRO CLASSICS are built to last longer with reinforced abrasion areas and provide the extra support and cushioning demanded by the world’s best professional skateboarders.

The complete Vans Pro Classics 50th Anniversary Collection will present 14 classic re-issued styles, to be released across three seasons in 2016. The first assortment will introduce five key silhouettes originally released in 1966-1982. Each drop reflects a timeless representation of Vans heritage, anecdoting years of creative expression and cultural lifestyle through action sports, art, music and street culture.

57 | sessionmag.co.za

ELEMENT / Fountain

ELEMENT / Elemental

ELEMENT / Dusk

ELEMENT / Quinton

ELEMENT / Elementals

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ELEMENT / Arbor

ELEMENT / Franchise

ELEMENT / Bedford

ELEMENT / Addison

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ELEMENT / Chromatic

58 | sessionmag.co.za

Payday

KDC Midway Mayhem 2016

Words: Luke Jackson Photos: Martin Kotze

Tabo Lochelt takes home the money.

It’s all about the bus. Friday means 12 hours from Cape Town to Kimberley and 8 hours or so from JHB to Kimberley. But then it’s that many hours home again on Sunday. A couple of guys even drove themselves all the way from Durban. All that travelling from different sides of the country for two nights of camping and just one full day of skateboarding, is it worth it? Hell yeah it is. When you get the opportunity to meet up with your homies from across the country, you take it. Sure some people are there for the money, but for most it’s a rare chance to travel and skate. The Veg crew from JHB, the SSS from Soweto, 20Sk8 from Cape Town, representatives from Durban’s Cloudy Bros and everyone in between, we all form a skate community. And that long ass bus ride is about being part of your scene. You know when you get there it’s going to be a laugh.

Thanks to KDC for providing the buses and for free camping, special thanks to Mike Chinner for being a great host as always.

Big ups to Tabo Lochelt for taking the win, JHB’s German import has been packing heat around SA for the past year or so and he came up tops at Midway this year. Allan Adams got second and Khule Ngubane was in third. Special mention for Damian Bramley who slayed the vert ramp like no other local can and walked away with the vert prize.

See you in October for the main event Kimberley.

60 | sessionmag.co.za

Josh Chisholm backtails the Kumba Plaza handrail.

Adidas Premiere

Away days Away Days is the first full-length international skate video feature from adidas Skateboarding. It’s a mega skate film with a global premiere tour, defying the trend in the age of web clips. The visual culmination of more than three years of filming, with shoots in more than 90 cities around the globe, Away Days profiles adidas Skateboarding talent, and their individual personalities and style.

With travel being the main theme of the video - the title was derived by adidas team manager Skin Phillips, in reference to the term used by travelling football fans when watching their favourite club playing away from home. Days spent away on the road were a plenty.

The Cape Town premiere went down at the Labia Theatre and everybody who is anybody to do with skateboarding in town was there to see it.

Whether it’s Legends like Puig, Busenitz, Gonz, Rodrigo TX and Silas or new kids on the block like Tyshawn, Nakel, Suciu and Miles Silvas, the crew runs deep! Spoiler alert – the video also announces new team additions Marc Johnson and Daewon Song.

of they’ I see re wa terpr o

“Buy The Airwalk X Pike Dreamz Collaboration Today” -Stuart Walker

This is one that you don’t want to miss.

Thanks to the adidas SA crew for an epic event with free drinks, food and the after party at Lefty’s!

Photos: Grant Mclachlan

I AM bradley vrey photo: Andre Visser Words: adrian henderson

Zero or die, 50/50

For an 18 year old who has only been skating for about 5 years, I was shocked that Brad even considered taking this rail on. Every other capable skateboarder that has come across it has passed on it.

The vertical pole of the parking shade is about a foot from where you are grinding, giving it a decisively extra degree of mind-buggery. Then there’s the short run up and the even shorter landing, a 1.5m pavement that drops onto horrible cobbles.

The East London born skateboarder, now residing in our neck of the woods (Somerset West), has picked up on the fact that in Africa, you take what you can get in terms of spots. There aren’t per-

62 | sessionmag.co.za

fect handrails in parks, let alone on the street. This leaves a lot of kids with a desire to skate big rails like in the videos, but never actually getting the opportunity to skate them. Brad had this outlook when he spied this rail. He was hungry to grind something big and here was a semi-decent one that nobody had hit.

I’ll admit to worrying that he was out of his depth, but he went right on trying, slamming and proving he could take the hits along with the punches to get what he wanted. After numerous bails he landed on the short pavement, but wasn’t in control when he dropped off onto the cobbles. He thought it was a make but we couldn’t agree so he had to make

it off the curb. It is what it is, and that wasn’t it.

Brad just carried on charging. I was cursing not having more than an iPhone to film with when he put it down a few attempts later. Off the curb, onto the cobbles, a short but controlled roll and then... splat. He stuck, pitched forward and ate it. Hard! Roasties and gashes all up his arm. Yet, a definite make, on a 10-stair rail, on the first session out with us, at the very first spot. The hype was real I tell you.

When Visser took him back recently to get the photo for this I Am, he only took 7 goes, and this time... he rode away through all of those cobbles.

HARDFLIP | PHOTO: ATIBA

BUILT BY SKATEBOARDING CHRIS JOSLIN MARANA XT

etnies.com

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@etniesskateboarding

STYLE 112 PRO ULTRACUSH™ HD IMPACT CUSHIONING WITH DURACAP™ DURABILITY

V A N S . COM / S KA T E

Skateboard Awards 2016

European Skateboarder Of The Year

© 2016 VAN S INC. PHOTO: ROBERTO ALEGRIA

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